Department of Canadian Heritage to assume some National Capital Commission duties

By Michael Woods, Postmedia NewsMarch 21, 2013

OTTAWA – The Department of Canadian Heritage is taking over some of the main functions of the National Capital Commission, according to the federal budget.

Calling the NCC “locally based,” the federal government said it intends to take over promotion of the capital, including events such as the annual Winterlude festival and the July 1 Canada Day show on Parliament Hill.

The NCC will maintain its other existing responsibilities for land-use planning and overseeing the capital region’s official residences.

The budget says the shift will ensure that such events “draw on the cultural and social fabric of the whole of Canada.”

The budget indicates the move is part of the government’s lead-up to Canada’s 150th birthday celebration in 2017. In the years before those celebrations, the government will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War and the 75th anniversary of the Second World War.

Some feel that the Department of Canadian Heritage has a higher national profile than the NCC, and that its wider portfolio will help boost national branding for these evens in the lead-up to the 2017 celebrations.

That’s despite the fact the NCC’s board of directors is drawn from across Canada, in an effort to help maintain a pan-Canadian focus.

The government says it is not a cost-cutting move. Current NCC employees who work in promoting the National Capital Region will simply become Canadian Heritage employees. It could entail moving as many as 100 employees and the associated resources.

Other events the NCC currently runs, which will change hands, are tours of Parliament Hill and the sound and light show on the Hill during the holiday season.

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